Milou’s personal recommendations for Rotterdam!
These are my personal tips -based on experience and research- for a great experience in Rotterdam! This resulted in a good list of tips! You can click on the bold text to get to the Google Maps location of the establishment.
All of you good luck in Rotterdam!
And don’t forget to write me a review here of course 😉
Restaurants
Lunch Places
Bars
Shopping
Coffeeshop
Museums
Parks
Milou’s Golden Tips
- Buy some fries at a Bram Ladage shop. They serve the best fries of Rotterdam, but I believe they even have the best fries of the world.
- Besides Dudok, there is another place that offers delicious apple pie. Most Rotterdammers even like this place more than Dudok. It is called Koekela and is located at the Nieuwe Binnenweg. The pies and cookies are amazingly good, but there are only a few tables inside.
- In my opinion, you have the most beautiful view of Rotterdam at the Oude Haven. There are many cafes with terraces there. Even in winter it is a nice place to sit under the heaters.
- In front of the Primark in the middle of the city centre, there is a small shop called ‘Tosti House‘. They have the best paninis!
- Taking a watertaxi from Leuvehaven to Hotel New York is an amazing experience to see the skyline from the water.
- Also check out Social Deal, to see if you can get a discount on a visit to the Euromast, or even a dinner on the tower.
- If you want to have a very large pizza or pasta and don’t want to pay too much, you should go to Happy Italy! I come here every month a few times and the food tastes sooo good. You can have dinner for less than 10 euros, including a drink!
Restaurants
Little V
Right next to the Paulus Church you can find this restaurant. It is the best place to have delicious Vietnamese food and a fresh ice tea of cocktail. The restaurant looks beautifull on the inside, but when the weather is good it is also a good choice to sit outside. Visit website
De Ballentent
The Ballentent is located along the Euromastpark. I can recommend combine a visit to the Euromast and have dinner or lunch at this restaurant. A lot of (older) local Rotterdammers love to eat meatballs in this place. Visit website
La Borsa
My favorite Italian in town! Visit website
Lunch Places
Guliano
Guliano is by far the best place to have an Italian sandwich. During lunchtime there is a line almost everyday, but it is definately worth the wait. Visit website
Hotel New York
Hotel New York is a must visit when you come to Rotterdam. Because dinner can be quite expensive, I always prefer having lunch here. Visit website
Bazar
Bazar is a Mediterranean restaurant located in the Witte the With straat, a street we also cross during the tour. The food is not very expensive and is really nice. What I also really like about this restaurant is the fact that you can order breakfast of lunch the whole day. The extensive lunch costs €12,50 per person and you get a lot of different kind of dishes. Visit website
Bars
1NUL8
This is my favorite bar at the Meent. Along the Meent you can also find more bars to visit. Visit website
nHow
On the seventh floor of the Nhow hotel (located in the famous building The Rotterdam) you can have a drink and some bitterballen in the bar. From this place you have the most amazing view over the city. Visit website
Bird
A jazz place with an open eye & ear for modern sounds. Good food! Visit website
Along Stadhuisplein you can find a lot of bars and cafe’s.
Shopping
De Lijnbaan
The first shopping street without traffic in Europe! Visit website
Markthal Rotterdam
This beautiful building was opened in 2014. In this place you can have a taste of dishes from all around the world, but also do some shopping. Visit website
Coffeeshop
The Four Floors
This is the most famous coffeeshop of Rotterdam.
Museums
Kijk Kubus
The Kijk Kubus allows visitors to have a look inside a Cube house to experience what it is like to live in such a special house. Entrance costs only 3 euro per person! Visit website
Museum Rotterdam
This small museum located at metro station Coolhaven offers an excellent exhibition about life in Rotterdam during the Second World War. It includes a multimedia experience, which allows you to relive the devastation of the bombardment in the city. It is a unassuming and often overlooked museum, which does not only tell you the big stories – but also includes the lesser know stories, like the ‘forgotten bombardment’. Visit website
Het Depot – Boijmans van Beuningen
Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is the world’s first publicly accessible museum art storage facility and is located in Rotterdam. 172 years of collecting – more than 151,000 objects housed together – arranged in fourteen storage compartments with five different climates. All the activities that go into preserving and managing a collection are on open view in the building. Make sure to book tickets online. Visit website
Parks
Euromastpark
If you want to have a great view over Rotterdam, you must visit the Euromast and the park around it. I can also really recommend having lunch or breakfast in the restaurant of the Euromast. Prices in the restaurant are not too expensive and you can enjoy the view over the city while eating. Visit website
Delfshaven
If you are tired of the modern buildings and architecture, I can recommend going to Delfshaven. This neighborhood survived the bombardment during the Second World War. Visit website
Kralingse Bos
If you want to relax and have a walk ending with a delicious lunch I can recommend to visit the Kralings Bos and stop at De Tuin van de Vier Windstreken. When the weather is good this is my favorite place to relax, have breakfast of lunch and enjoy the view over the lake on the terrace.